Immigration Advisers

Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations giving immigration advice for profit are registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner; and how many such individuals and organisations are in the process of registering with OISC. [13047]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 7 November 2001]: I understand that, as of 5 November 2001, the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) had registered 130 immigration advisers in business for profit. Of these, 83 are sole practitioners and 47 are organisations comprising two or more practitioners. The OISC has under consideration 15 registration applications from sole practitioners and eight from organisations comprising two or more practitioners.

Identity Cards

Dr. Julian Lewis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the value of (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary identity cards in combating terrorism in the United Kingdom. [13408]

Angela Eagle:
The Government have no plans to introduce a compulsory or voluntary identity card scheme as part of their response to the atrocities in the United States on 11 September.

However the policy on identity cards is kept under review and the Government are considering whether a universal card which allowed people to prove their identity more easily and provided a simple way to access a range of public services would be beneficial. Such an entitlement card scheme could also help to combat illegal working which disproportionately affects the poorer sections of our society by undercutting the minimum wage and encouraging unscrupulous employers. It could also reduce fraud against individuals, public services and the private sector.

8 Nov 2001 : Column: 388W

The Government do not consider that an entitlement card scheme would have a significant effect in combating terrorism in the United Kingdom.

The introduction of an entitlement card would be a major step and the Government would not proceed without consulting widely and considering all the views expressed very carefully.

Rape Crisis Centres

Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the funding of rape crisis centres. [12332]

Mr. Denham:
The Home Office started to fund the Rape Crisis Federation with effect from 1 April 2001 for its work in supporting the network of rape crisis centres throughout the country. This year's grant is £406,000.

Police Fraud Teams

Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the (a) size and (b) case load of police fraud teams in each year since 1996. [12648]

Mr. Denham: (a) I am afraid that this information is not kept centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, for the last two years Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has collected data from all forces in England and Wales according to a range of 62 staff functions, one of which is fraud. The staff function for fraud is defined as "staff who predominantly investigate fraud cases (not including staff who are predominantly employed in asset confiscation duties)" and "staff who are predominantly employed to support the investigation of fraud cases (not including staff who are predominantly employed to support asset confiscation duties)". The data are as follows:

19992000

200001

Police force area

Police officer

Civilian staff

Police officer

Civilian staff

Avon and Somerset

17

1

15

2

Bedfordshire

8

1

13

3

Cambridgeshire

7

0

6

0

Cheshire

16

0

15

3

City of London

74

12

70

11

Cleveland

10

0

10

0

Cumbria

4

0

4

0

Derbyshire

10

1

12

1

Devon and Cornwall

10

0

18

5

Dorset

13

1

14

2

Durham

5

0

4

0

Dyfed-Powys

7

0

5

1

Essex

0

0

0

0

Gloucester

8

1

8

1

Greater Manchester

36

0

35

0

Gwent

5

0

5

0

Hampshire

11

3

12

3

Hertfordshire

10

0

11

0

Humberside

9

1

10

1

Kent

14

4

13

11

Lancashire

0

0

0

0

Leicester

0

0

7

0

Lincolnshire

7

0

7

0

Merseyside

0

4

0

4

Metropolitan police

118

0

68

2

Norfolk

7

0

7

0

North Wales

9

0

0

0

North Yorkshire

6

0

6

0

Northamptonshire

8

2

8

4

Northumbria

14

0

0

0

Nottinghamshire

11

1

17

1

South Wales

15

2

3

0

South Yorkshire

21

2

20

5

Staffordshire

10

2

10

2

Suffolk

6

0

8

2

Surrey

12

0

17

3

Sussex

2

1

0

2

Thames Valley

15

4

15

5

Warwickshire

1

0

6

1

West Mercia

7

0

5

0

West Midlands

28

12

29

9

West Yorkshire

42

0

43

0

Wiltshire

3

0

4

0

England and Wales

616

55

560

84

8 Nov 2001 : Column: 390W

(b) I am afraid that this information is not kept centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the recorded crime figures for fraud and forgery for all police forces in England and Wales between April 1996 and March 2001 are as follows:

Fraud and forgery

Police force area

April 1996 to March 1997

April 1997 to March 1998

April 1998(26) to March 1999

April 1999 to March 2000

April 2000 to March 2001

Avon and Somerset

4,209

3,655

9,950

8,518

9,211

Bedfordshire

2,027

1,742

4,114

4,760

4,299

Cambridgeshire

1,491

1,375

2,389

3,251

2,780

Cheshire

2,325

1,848

2,146

2,192

2,390

Cleveland

1,350

1,525

2,261

2,744

2,880

Cumbria

946

1,156

1,388

1,310

1,094

Derbyshire

1,400

1,271

4,200

4,739

4,670

Devon and Cornwall

2,272

2,255

7,064

6,925

6,564

Dorset

1,315

1,264

6,334

5,866

5,045

Durham

1,193

1,163

1,311

1,314

1,394

Essex

2,526

2,458

4,366

5,470

6,615

Gloucestershire

1,551

1,484

2,527

3,284

3,105

Greater Manchester

5,411

6,519

15,830

20,043

18,579

Hampshire

3,998

3,669

5,130

6,393

5,847

Hertfordshire

1,225

1,418

2,312

2,935

3,982

Humberside

2,588

2,381

3,582

3,745

3,787

Kent

2,879

3,034

5,687

7,387

7,965

Lancashire

3,394

3,557

4,446

4,024

5,935

Leicestershire

3,417

2,795

7,227

8,398

6,925

Lincolnshire

1,344

1,144

2,723

1,641

1,662

City of London

384

507

862

1,214

1,145

Merseyside

3,999

4,275

4,884

4,794

5,021

Metropolitan police

41,157

43,437

80,541

105,150

83,453

Norfolk

1,222

1,056

2,488

3,251

2,742

Northamptonshire

1,211

1,230

4,425

4,225

3,661

Northumbria

2,017

2,315

4,991

5,022

5,365

North Yorkshire

989

976

2,563

2,551

2,498

Nottinghamshire

3,223

2,869

4,736

6,195

7,038

South Yorkshire

2,567

2,262

3,951

4,794

5,551

Staffordshire

2,106

2,196

3,830

4,885

6,083

Suffolk

1,302

1,069

2,099

2,182

2,372

Surrey

1,315

1,456

2,994

3,808

5,133

Sussex

2,677

3,059

7,790

8,615

9,886

Thames Valley

4,467

4,016

11,778

14,191

16,085

Warwickshire

932

910

2,401

2,383

2,067

West Mercia

1,960

1,865

3,961

4,210

3,898

West Midlands

5,781

4,987

15,675

26,856

29,322

West Yorkshire

5,034

5,458

10,608

11,533

10,626

Wiltshire

914

824

1,933

2,086

2,200

Dyfed-Powys

621

448

1,402

1,136

1,226

Gwent

1,415

1,402

2,395

2,586

2,532

North Wales

956

841

1,869

1,570

1,777

South Wales

2,865

3,061

6,340

6,597

4,914

England and Wales total

135,975

136,232

279,503

334,773

319,324

(26) New Home Office counting rules were issued for recorded crime on 1 April 1998

Police Authority Vehicles

Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives to police authorities on the purchase and hire of road vehicles. [12911]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 6 November 2001]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 20 July 2001, Official Report, column 648W.

8 Nov 2001 : Column: 391W

In 1996 the Police Information Technology Organisation placed a leasing Framework for police vehicles with two suppliers. These arrangements are due to run until July 2002.

Forensic Laboratories

Mr. Hendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average length of time it took each of the national forensic laboratories to complete an investigation, from referral to conclusion in the last 12 months. [12040]

Angela Eagle:
Figures available to the Home Office only include the work of the Forensic Science Service in England and Wales. Response times vary dependent on the offence type. There can be more than one referral in an investigation. The average turn around time for individual referrals was 26 days for the 12-month period from April 2000 to March 2001. In the year to date since March 2001 the average turn round time was 28 days.

Mr. Hendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many forensic scientists were employed by the national forensic laboratories in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [12039]

Angela Eagle:
The average number of forensic scientists employed by the Home Office Forensic Science Service in each of the last five years is: